Teammates Rib Kerryon Johnson over Him Being 'Knee Brace Guy'

Read more on how Kerryon Johnson's teammates have been referring to him as the "knee brace guy"

Author:
John Maakaron
Updated:
Aug 22, 2020 3:00 PM EDT
Original:
Aug 22, 2020

In this story:

Kerryon Johnson

This season, Detroit's offense is looking to finally achieve a certain level of balance.

In offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell's first year in the Motor City, the Lions excelled in the passing game, but were unable to gain much traction running the football.

Part of the issue involved the constant injuries to running back Kerryon Johnson.

In his first two seasons, he missed a combined 14 games.

Now that Johnson has returned and is healthy, his focus has been on staying active and working with rookie D'Andre Swift to form a dynamic one-two punch in the Lions' backfield.

It has been observed that throughout training camp, Johnson has been utilizing a knee brace.

"Oh, yeah. Me and the knee brace -- we're one person. I work with it. It works for me. I used it all offseason. Used it when I was coming back last season. That's just the new me," Johnson said.

"I'm the knee brace guy," he further commented. "Everybody jokes about it. It feels great. I like having a knee brace on. It helps me out a lot. Gives me a little peace of mind as well. My main focus has been without the OTA session, without the summer or without in-person meetings and things like that, just making sure that everybody is working on the same page."

Portland Trail Blazers fan

Recently, Johnson has been sharing his support of a team currently playing in the NBA's bubble located in Orlando, Fla.

"I've been a Blazers fan probably for quite some time," Johnson said.

He added, "Damian Lillard is my favorite player now. So, it was Dwyane Wade. Dwyane Wade retired. Damian Lillard took my throne. I've been a 'Dame' fan for a long time. Just started out using them on NBA 2K a lot, and ended up just killing my brother multiple times with them. And I'm like, 'Man, let's check them out in real life.' I've just always admired the way he carries himself. That's a tough conference that he's in."